Closing of “Egypt is Changing” Conference
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Within the proceedings of “Egypt is Changing” Conference, a session entitled “Contemplation in Egypt’s Transitioned Media”, addressing the recent transformations in the state-run media that took place after the 25th of January Revolution. Journalist Gamil Mattar moderated the session and clarified that the Revolution has led to a shift in the role of media on the political arena. In addition, the new social media, including websites and text messages (SMS), bridged the gap between the ruler and the ruled
Journalist Saad Hagras spoke about the values crisis in the Egyptian media, indicating that the Egyptian Revolution should extend to every aspect of our lives, on top of which are the inefficient figures, who still cannot keep up with the communication revolution and the new forms of media worldwide. Hagras maintained that the Egyptian media witnessed a form of non-institutional freedom during the last ten years represented in constraining editorial rights, suppressing freedom of expression and infringing upon journalism code of ethics. He asserted the role of media in supporting the Egyptian revolution.
Journalist Amina Khairy spoke about the official media’s attitude towards the revolution and referred to the urgent need for a full analysis of media’s core problems. She sees that media was totally biased to the ruling National Democratic Party, particularly some of its sectors and gave some examples of media figures’ changing their attitudes before, during and after the Revolution.
Mr. Said Shehata explained the term "media in transition", referring to the abrupt change of media policies before and after the Revolution. He noted that the authoritarian pro-government media in Egypt and Tunisia shared the same features. Despite the success of the 25th of January Revolution, the official Egyptian media still proclaims the promotion of stability and the return of demonstrators to their homes, urging them to be satisfied with what have been already achieved. He called for setting clear editorial policies, forming an authority to monitor media performance, raising the public awareness on their political rights (i.e. democracy and the civil state), as well as overthrowing all media figures related to the former regime.
Mr. Rami Ibrahim asserted that during the past year, the Egyptian state-run media imposed restrictions to curb independent and party-owned media, and exploited some of them. During the demonstrations, the media portrayed protestors as malevolent agents with foreign agendas and as a result media lost all its credibility.
Dr. Yasser Abdel-Aziz noted that the Egyptian state-run media did not change; yet it is still the same authoritarian media even after ousting the ex-ruling regime. The predicament of the current media is that it was proven to be false and misleading during the Revolution. He stressed the need for credible media reflecting social and constitutional values, on top of which is freedom of expression.